1 online resource (213 pages)

Contrary to many claims made in the media, women in China have experienced a dramatic rollback of rights and gains relative to men. Leftover Women lays out the structural discrimination against women and speaks to broader problems with China's economy, politics, and development

A century ago, Chinese feminists fighting for the emancipation of women helped spark the republican revolution, which overthrew the Qing empire. After the communist revolution of 1949, Chairman Mao famously proclaimed that 'women hold up half the sky'. In the early years of the people's republic, the Communist Party sought to transform gender relations with expansive initiatives such as assigning urban women jobs in the planned economy. Yet those gains are now being eroded in China's post-socialist era. Contrary to many claims made in the mainstream media, women in China have experienced a dramatic rollback of many rights and gains relative to men. This crucial book debunks the popular myth that women have fared well as a result of post-socialist China's economic reforms and breakneck growth. Laying out the structural discrimination against women in China will speak to broader problems with China's economy, politics, and development

Includes bibliographical references (pages 195-207) and index

Online resource; title from e-book title screen (EBL platform, viewed October 27, 2014)

China's "leftover" women -- How Chinese women were shut out of the biggest accumulation of real-estate wealth in history -- China's giant gender wealth gap -- Back to the Ming dynasty -- Wives caught in China's web of abuse -- Fighting back

Asian Arguments; About the Author; Title; Copyright; Contents; Dedication; Introduction; 1 China's "leftover" women; How the state stigmatizes single educated women in their late twenties; Marriage, social stability and upgrading "population quality"; Dismantling women's gains of the past; 2 How Chinese women were shut out of the biggest accumulation of real-estate wealth in history; Homes worth US30 trillion, most registered in men's names; "He's going to be the landlord and I'll pay him rent"; "I have been cast aside by the law"; 3 China's giant gender wealth gap; The hukou system

Why parents tend to buy homes for sons but not daughtersHow state promotion of marriage and new households fuels real-estate mania; Why real-estate wealth is more important than income for Chinese women; 4 Back to the Ming dynasty; The golden age for women's property rights: 1,000 years ago?; Women's "liberation" in the Republican and Communist revolutions; Marriage and the erosion of women's property rights in the post-Mao era; 5 Wives caught in China's web of abuse; "Don't expose family ugliness"; "The system is designed to make you give up"; "Why should I give her a divorce? We're family."

6 Fighting backWomen's resistance in the authoritarian state; Gender and LGBTQ activism; The future of women's rights in China; Acknowledgments; Notes; Index; Asian Arguments published titles

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